pasteurization

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. The act or process of heating a beverage or other food, such as milk or beer, to a specific temperature for a specific period of time in order to kill microorganisms that could cause disease, spoilage, or undesired fermentation.

n. The act or process of destroying most microorganisms in certain foods, such as fish or clam meat, by irradiating them with gamma rays or other radiation to prevent spoilage.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. Alternative spelling of pasteurisation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. A process devised by Pasteur for preventing or checking fermentation in fluids, such as wines, milk, etc., by exposure to a temperature of 140° F., thus destroying the vitality of the contained microorganisms.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. The preserving of wines or other fermented liquids from deterioration, by destroying the fungi and their spores that would be productive of further and deleterious changes. This is effected by heating the liquid to at least 140°F. Also spelled Pasteurisation.

n. partial sterilization of foods at a temperature that destroys harmful microorganisms without major changes in the chemistry of the food

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

After Louis Pasteur.

Examples

Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who for 15 years has represented plaintiffs in major food safety cases, including the 2004 salmonella cases that were traced to almonds, said Thursday that pasteurization is necessary.

The terms "pasteurization", "pasteurized", and similar terms shall be taken to refer to the process of heating every particle of milk or milk products to a temperature of not less than 142°F., and holding at such temperature for not less than 30 minutes in pasteurization apparatus approved by the